Large squamata juniper

[defra]

Looking forward to the after styling pictures!

 

[Fishtank307]

After styling









I think this tree is going to change a lot over the years! But I like it so far. It's beginning look like how I imagined it when I first got it!

 

[leatherback]

I think you did well!

 

[Fishtank307]

I think you did well!

Thanks! Couldn't have done it without my teacher though.
When it has recovered, I think I'll try and add some more movement in that long straight section. Maybe mimic the bends in the main trunk. Next year I'll just let it recover and maintain the foliage, as you suggested.

 

[Gsquared]

Great job! We’ve all seen material with some great aspects and then you notice that “fatal flaw” that make you reject it. You really took a tree with a problem area and made a great design with it. Bravo!

 

[Warpig]

Edited: Didnt notice the OP post date.

 

[Fishtank307]

Great job! We’ve all seen material with some great aspects and then you notice that “fatal flaw” that make you reject it. You really took a tree with a problem area and made a great design with it. Bravo!

Thanks! There's still much room for improvement, but I like it for now

 

[Fishtank307]

Edited: Didnt notice the OP post date.

Now I'm curious what you edited!

 

[Warpig]

Was about where in your first post, you were talking about maybe grafting some branches to the trunk since it was "boring" glad to see you didnt. The trunk is what makes this tree if you ask me.

 

[Fishtank307]

The tree has responded well to last years work; repotting, bending and styling. This was the tree on May 1st:




Sadly I don't have a picture from when the new growth was fully extended. I pruned it two weeks ago, cutting lots of the new shoots in order to further compact the foliage.
This is the tree today:





Left hand side:

The back:






Right hand side:

 

[Fishtank307]

Jin on the backside:



The full tree, without wire:


I'll wire it again at the end of summer. Then next year I may repot it into a more suiting container.

 

[Paulpash]

You did a good job with what you had. I decided to sell all mine (I had 3)because of the added time needed to needle pluck these with tweezers - it's a perennial pain in the bum. You're probably far more patient than I!

Dug up from the grow beds


Styled a few hours later...

 

[Fishtank307]

Pre-spring update!
I wired the tree again last fall, added a shari and just now I cleaned the trunk a bit. It could use some more detail wiring soon. Also planning on repotting this spring:

 

[Lazylightningny]

Looking good!

 

[Fishtank307]

After three years of being torn between leaving it as it is, or grafting, I made a drastic decision:

Out with the old...



New front...


Placing the donor plant: Chinese juniper 'Kishu'


Securing the wips. The trunk had died of in a larger area than I previously thought! So all of the new foliage had to be placed along only ONE live vein!


All the graft underneath each other. I hope the one up top will survive. I made the cut too wide, so I could only line up the cambium at one side.


Finished. For now...

 

[Crazy Diamond]

I think is the best choice, the straight cylindrical trunk after the first bend is not very nice at all

 

[tangledtanuki]

Very cool to see this progression. I wonder if you can't do more grafts on top while the others grow out and you will be able to airlayer and have a few more tree's out of that straight section with a nice base already.

If you could go back would you have done these grafts earlier? Or have you learnt a few things you hadn't along the way that you could use in the future?

 

[Colorado]

I think this is the best decision for this tree. Great looking trunk!